Abstract
RECENTLY, von Knorring and du Bois1 described a vesicular lava of high carbonate content from western Uganda which shows close geochemical affinities with intrusive carbonatites. They stated: “It must be emphasized that the lavas examined are fresh and unaltered and that the carbonated nature cannot be attributed to alteration after solidification”. Descriptions of extrusive equivalents of carbonatites are rare, but two other examples have been reported recently from Africa. Bailey2 concluded that certain carbonate-rich tuffs in Northern Rhodesia were primary, and not alteration products of more normal rocks. On p. 58 of his report, he wrote: “Indigestible though the fact may be to some philosophical systems—the pyroclastics around the Rufunsa vents are effusive carbonatite”. Reference is made, in both papers, to the 1954 eruption of Oldonyo Lengai in Tanganyika, during which showers of dust and ashes, largely composed of calcium and sodium carbonates, were observed to fall on the flanks of the volcano3.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Knorring, O. von, and du Bois, C. G. B., Nature, 192, 1064 (1961).
Bailey, D. K., Ministry of Labour and Mines Geological Survey, Northern Rhodesia, Bulletin, No. 5 (1960).
James, T. C., Rep. Carbonatites and Rift Valleys in East Africa (Geol. Survey, Tanganyika, 1956).
Wyllie, P. J., and Tuttle, O. F., J. Petrol., 1, 1 (1960).
Wyllie, P. J., and Tuttle, O. F., Rep. Twenty-first Intern. Geol. Cong., 13, 310 (1960).
Wyllie, P. J., and Raynor, E. J. (unpublished).
Gittins, and Tuttle, O. F. (unpublished).
Biggar, G. M., and Wyllie, P. J. (unpublished).
Haas, J. L., and Wyllie, P. J. (unpublished).
Gittins, and Tuttle, O. F. (unpublished).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
WYLLIE, P., TUTTLE, O. Carbonatitic Lavas. Nature 194, 1269 (1962). https://doi.org/10.1038/1941269a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1941269a0
This article is cited by
-
Carbonatitic volcanic ashes in Northern Tanganyika
Bulletin Volcanologique (1964)
-
Trace Elements in Tanganyika Carbonatites
Nature (1962)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.